This no-frills place sits in an Inner Richmond neighborhood with several better-known restaurants, mainly Burma Superstar and Q -- but Java offers something these places don't: a good meal for eye-poppingly low prices.

I'm not very familiar with Indonesian food outside of this one place, but the food seems to take themes from Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese cuisine without being too close to any particular one. There is the same emphasis on rice and noodle dishes with coconut, paprika and lots of other spices. -- Malcolm Maclachlan